Rabies Impacts & Maze Goes Up In A Blaze

Rabies Impacts & Maze Goes Up In A Blaze. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

You don’t hear a lot about rabies but like many other viruses is still out there. Dr Richard Chipman of the National Rabies Management Program explains this viral disease and its impacts on both wildlife and humans.

CHIPMAN: It’s a virus of the central nervous system and it’s most often passed on through the bite of infected animals. It’s an elegant little virus. It’s been around a long time and it’s very adaptable into a number of different species. In the United States we have 9 different what we call variants of rabies and it can be passed on to other different mammals but it’s mostly in those particular species. About 92% of all cased reported to CDC are in wild animals. Primarily raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. We still have a few cases every year in domestic animals and the number one domestic animals is cats so still very much an issue here in the United States.

This time of year a lot of farmers earn a little extra revenue by opening up their farms to the public who come to wander around in a corn field or straw bale maze. But a fire has completely destroyed a maze in Idaho Falls. The Lost Straw Maze fire caused an estimated $100-thousand dollars i damages and was fueled by about 100 1-ton bales. A backhoe was also damaged in the fire which blew smoke over the city. No injuries were reported and is under investigation.

Now here’s today’s Washington Grange report.

(Grange)

That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.